Chapter 21: Superfans

 

 

IT WAS delivered by a harried-looking page three days later.

I was eating with the others out in the stable Kevin had commandeered as his own. Shortly after he’d come to stay at Castle Lockes for good, he’d gone back and forth between the City and his old keep over the period of a few months, slowly transferring his hoard into the stable. There were piles of gold and jewels, stacks of books in languages long forgotten, and at least four hundred brooms. When asked about them, Kevin would get confused, saying they were just as precious to him as the gigantic emerald Gary licked every time he passed it by.

Tiggy had told me that Gary had been staying in their old rooms since returning to the castle, evidently taking this trial reconciliation thing very seriously. But none of his stuff had been moved out of the stables, so I thought it wouldn’t be much longer before Gary gave up and admitted what all the rest of us already knew.

We hadn’t heard from Randall, but I wasn’t yet worried about that. I figured it’d take more time to get someone as ridiculously obstinate as the Great White to change his mind, if he would at all.

The map in the King’s office remained still. The Darks, whatever their intentions, were not on the move. It made me uneasy not knowing what Myrin was planning. Morgan thought he would be lying low, licking his wounds after suffering the defeat in Mashallaha, having underestimated my power. I wanted to believe him, but something just felt… off.

But we were all here, we were all together, and we were happy and whole. Gary was snarking at Kevin, and Tiggy was grinning at the both of them, hands inching toward one of many brooms against the wall. Justin was doing that thing where he glared, but secretly he was thinking about how much he loved all of us and never wanted to be apart from anyone here, especially me, because we were best friends 5eva. Ryan and I sat side by side, Ryan’s hand on my knee, and for a moment, even with everything that had happened, even with everything that could still happen, I was content.

I was happy.

“And then I said, ‘Girl, you do not get to talk to me that way, do you know who I am?’” Gary huffed and flipped his mane dramatically. “Obviously she did not know who I was, because she looked at me with this look, this blank look, which did nothing to help her situation. So I said, ‘Girl, don’t you look at me like that,’ and she said, ‘Bitch, I don’t know you, bitch,’ and then I said, ‘Bitch, I’ll tell you who I am, bitch,’ and then I got up in her face, real close like, and said, ‘Bitch, I’m your motherfucking nightmare, bitch.’”

“Motherfucking nightmare,” Tiggy agreed. “This broom my broom now.”

“What happened next?” Kevin asked, sounding enraptured. “Did you become her nightmare as you foretold?”

“If you would let me finish the godsdamn story, you would learn that I did not in fact become her nightmare, because as it turned out, I was actually talking to my own reflection in a window of a shop that I’d just passed by. It was about that time that I realized that I should cut back on day drinking, because nobody likes a sloppy princess such as myself yelling at her reflection in the middle of a street.”

Justin frowned. “And what exactly does this have to do with negotiating tariff tax like we were talking about before?”

“Absolutely nothing,” Gary said. “But that was super boring, so I took over the conversation and turned it into something far more interesting by making it about me.”

“These are your people,” I said as I nudged Ryan.

“Don’t remind me,” he muttered as he cleaned his sword.

It was good.

It was good.

Then came the page.

He was a scrawny thing with big eyes and a nervous tremble in his lips. He squeaked a little as he announced his presence, bowing so low that I thought he’d fall face-first onto the sod that covered the ground in Kevin’s stable. He looked to be of age, no more than nineteen years old.

Gary, of course, found him precious and cooed at him while baring his teeth. It was adorable in a frighteningly aggressive sort of way.

“M-m-my lord wizard,” the page said, taking a stumbling step toward me.

“Apprentice,” Gary coughed.

I ignored him. “Hey, dude. Haven’t seen you around the castle before.”

“I-I’m new. I have. A. Um. Letter? For you. Sam of Wilds.”

“That’s me,” I said, pushing myself up.

He squeaked again, sounding like he was deflating. “Please don’t make my nipples explode,” he moaned.

“Man,” I breathed. “That is just awesome. It will go on forever.”

“He won’t do that,” Ryan said wryly as he came to stand beside me. “He actually can’t do that.”

“Hey! You don’t know. Maybe I’ve just been keeping it a secret this whole time.”

The page’s eyes bulged as his gaze snapped back and forth between Ryan and myself. “Oh my gods,” he said faintly. “It’s HaveHeart. HaveHeart is standing right in front of me.”

“So gross,” Justin muttered behind us.

“And look, everyone! There’s also DragonCorn here too. Everyone loves DragonCorn! Raaaah! Listen to all that applause for DragonCorn. Raaaaaaaahhhh!”

We all turned slowly to look up at Kevin.

He stared blankly down at us. “I don’t know who said that. It wasn’t me.”

“I’m a h-h-huge fan,” the page sputtered as we looked back at him. “Me and my sister. She’s eleven. She j-just l-l-loves you two so much.”

“She sounds very sweet,” Ryan said kindly. “What’s your name?”

“C-Caleb.”

“And hers?”

“C-C-Christie.”

“Does she work in the castle too?”

He shook his head furiously. “No, Knight C-Commander. She’s… sickly. She doesn’t l-leave her r-r-room much.”

Ryan stiffened beside me. “I’m… so sorry to hear that.”

Caleb smiled weakly. “It’s okay. Sh-sh-she has her good days. Sometimes. But sh-she loves you g-guys. Sh-she has all your posters in her r-room.” He blushed, looking down at his feet.

“And she’s here? In the City?”

Caleb nodded.

Ryan looked at me, arching an eyebrow, and I knew exactly what he was asking me without him having to say a single word.

I rolled my eyes and bumped his shoulder. My knight had the biggest heart.

“Tell you what,” Ryan said as he turned back to Caleb. “We could give you an autograph, if you’d like to take it to her.”

I thought Caleb would fall down. “You w-w-would?” he gasped.

“Or,” Ryan said, smiling quietly, “if it’s all right with you and she was feeling up to it, we could visit her. Do you think that would be all right with your parents?”

There was a possibility that Caleb shat himself, but I didn’t think it was a polite thing to ask, especially when it looked as if tears were welling in his eyes. “I-I-I-I-I—”

“Oh my gods,” Gary moaned behind us. “It’s like you just shot feelings all over my face. I just got a feelings facial and I feel so dirty.”

Ryan reached out and dropped a hand on Caleb’s shoulder, causing him to fall silent. “It’s okay.”

Caleb reached up and wiped his eyes. His hands were shaking, and I could see his shoulders trembling. “Y-you w-would do that? For h-her?”

“Sure, kid,” I said, oddly touched by the whole situation.

“That… th-that would be an honor. I-if you could spare the t-t-time.”

“Would tomorrow be all right?” Ryan asked. “Give you enough time to clear it with your parents?”

Caleb nodded.

“When do you finish your page work?” I asked him.

“Five, sir.”

“And where do you live?”

“Midtown.”

“Not too far, then,” I told Ryan. “We could spare an hour or two. Morgan won’t mind. And we haven’t heard anything from Randall, so I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”

“We can meet you at the front gates at quarter past?” Ryan said to Caleb. “If that would work for you.”

“Y-yes. Oh, my lords. T-thank you, th-th-thank you. She will be so h-h-happy.”

Ryan chuckled. “It’s our pleasure. You said you had a letter for Sam?”

“O-oh! R-right. I’m s-so s-sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said, waving a hand at him. “It’s probably something boring anyway.”

He handed over a thick sheet of paper, folded and closed with a wax seal. He bowed again so low that my own back twinged at the sight of it. He took a few stumbling steps toward the doors to the stable but stopped when Justin called out to him.

“Page, what did you say your last name was?”

“I d-didn’t, Your M-Majesty.”

“Ah. My apologies. Tell me, please.”

I frowned.

“It’s Marlowe, m-my P-Prince.”

“Thank you. That will be all.”

The page left with one last look at us, his gaze stuttering when he looked up at Kevin, but then he was gone.

“That might have been the most adorable thing that’s ever happened,” Gary said. “And trust me, I know adorable. I mean, look at me.”

“Who’s the letter from?” Ryan asked.

“Mama,” I said. “It’s her seal.” I showed him the large phallus embedded in the wax.

“Subtle.”

“Yeah. That’s Mama for you.” I broke the seal and opened the letter. The paper had been dusted with the scent of roses, sweet and sublime. Mama’s immaculate handwriting curled seductively along the page. “She’s just checking in… apologizing for Feng… ah. She says that she’ll make it up to us any way that we desire, be it boys from the Tilted Cross to participate in a gangbang with Ryan at the center—”

“I am so fucking down for that,” Kevin said.

“—or any other favor that our hearts desire,” I finished.

“Mama never offered to let me be the focus of a gangbang,” Gary muttered.

“Me either,” Tiggy said with a pout. Then, “What’s gangbang?”

“Well, kitten, it’s when eight or nine mens love each other very much and want to deposit as much sperm into a single person as possible to—”

“Why’d you ask him about his last name?” I asked Justin, who was staring toward the door the page had disappeared through.

“You seriously can’t be that stupid, Sam.”

“Well, five or six people would probably beg to differ. But why don’t you fill me in anyway.”

He rolled his eyes. “I want to confirm he is who he says he is. You’re not just going to go traipsing off without confirmation. Don’t be foolish, Sam.”

“Oh my gods,” I whispered. “You love me.”

“You’re about to get hugged,” Ryan warned him. “That’s his hugging face.”

“Sam, you stay the fuck away from me, I swear to the—oof!”

“Shh,” I told him. “It’s already happening.”

Justin sighed. But he didn’t push me away.

 

 

CALEB WAS waiting for us the next evening, wringing his hands nervously, looking slightly pale. His eyes widened as he saw us approaching.

I’ll admit we were probably going a little bit overboard. Ryan was fully knighted out, wearing some of his best armor, his shield strapped to his back, his sword in its scabbard at his side. His short hair was slicked back, his jaw freshly shaven. He looked every bit the knight I’d known the first time I’d seen him in Castle Lockes.

Not to be outdone, I’d put on my ceremonial robes, the ones Morgan couldn’t get me into no matter how much he begged. They were a bit stifling, given how heavy they were, but the dark greens and golds contrasted with my dark skin, and Gary said they made my eyes glitter.

Morgan had glared at me when he saw us until we told him we were trying to impress a sick eleven-year-old girl. Then he’d softened, just like I knew he would.

“We won’t be gone long,” I told him. “It’s just Midtown.”

“And you know who this is?”

“Justin’s already checked into him. Caleb has been in the page program for almost four months. It’ll be fine.”

“You can’t be too careful these days,” Morgan said.

I grinned at him. “I’m Sam of Wilds. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“You could be abducted by villains who either want to kill you, ransom you, or sleep with you.”

“Sometimes all three,” I agreed.

“I hate those ones,” Ryan mumbled next to me.

“We’ll be fine,” I assured Morgan. “We’ll be back before nightfall.”

“Caleb,” Ryan said now. “All right?”

Caleb nodded, head snapping up and down. “I-I didn’t expect y-y-you to look like that.”

“You mean amazing?” I asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

He squeaked. “Y-y-yessir.”

“Thank you.”

“Are your parents okay with us coming to see your sister today? And she is in good spirits? What was her name again?”

“C-C-Christie, Knight Commander,” Caleb said, wiping his brow. “And it’s fine. She d-d-doesn’t know you’re c-coming. It’s going to be such a s-surprise.”

“Lead the way, then,” I said. “Let’s see if we can make a little girl’s day.”

And he did. We followed Caleb through the gates and out into the streets of the City of Lockes. We were stared at as we walked amongst the people, some smiling at us, some glaring. A few gave us a wide berth, actively avoiding having to walk by us. Still others stopped us and asked for autographs. A woman got a little handsy with Ryan, her generous bosom spilling over the top of her dress, pressing up against him as she stroked the metal of his breastplate. He laughed and chuckled and winked, and they swooned over him, as his fans were wont to do. I was used to people fawning over him. He’d always gotten it more than I had, and while I wasn’t actively ignored when they came up to him, it was obvious that they couldn’t care less I was standing right there.

It was fine.

Everything was fine.

“All right,” I said, pushing off the rather buxom woman as she started to describe how she’d just yesterday discovered that she’d gotten over her gag reflex. “That’s enough for now. While I’m sure the Knight Commander appreciates the fact that you can deep-throat, you should probably know that he can do the same and does so quite regularly. On me, if that wasn’t clear enough.”

The woman scowled at me.

Ryan looked amused, even as he blushed.

I thought Caleb was going to pass out in the street.

We moved along.

“D-does that h-happen a lot?” he asked.

“Not all the time,” Ryan said.

“All the time,” I said. “I mean, have you seen him? He’s pretty much the hottest thing to exist. Of course people will randomly come up to him on the streets to tell him they can swallow an ear of corn to the hilt without choking.”

“Did you s-say c-c-corn?” Caleb asked, eyes wide.

“Still,” Ryan said. “You have to admit, that’s slightly impressive.”

“Maybe you can go back and tell her yourself,” I told him sweetly. “And while you’re at it, ask if you can stay with her because you suddenly don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“Please. Like you would ever let me go.”

“I have no one but myself to blame for you.”

“And don’t you forget it,” he said as he grabbed my hand and held on tightly.

We turned down a side street in a part of the City I’d never been to before. The houses were ramshackle, not quite reaching the modesty of the street we’d just left. They weren’t anywhere near the conditions of the slums, but we were in one of the oldest neighborhoods of the City, and the road beneath our feet was cracked, and the houses loomed above us, curling over the street, the sidings in need of a good coat of paint. I looked up, and the sky above was still bright and blue, though it was starting to become streaked with pinks and oranges along the edges as sunset approached. We still had plenty of time, and I told myself the chill I felt down my spine had everything to do with my overactive imagination.

We turned down one more street deeper into the neighborhood. The road was a dead end, with houses that looked a little shabbier. I didn’t know if what I was feeling was pity or worry for Caleb and Christie, but I decided that if the situation looked dire, I would do everything I could to help them. Perhaps Morgan would know something that could help the little girl we were going to meet. I didn’t like it when people suffered and I could do something about it.

We stopped in front of a house at the end of the road. It was missing a few shutters on the windows, and the roof looked as if it needed to be replaced. It was a single story with a small porch, the wood of which was slightly splintered. The door was bright red, a shocking contrast with the drab surroundings.

Caleb stopped in front of the house, looking up at it, wringing his hands again. I was concerned he would rub his skin raw, so I dropped my hand on his shoulder. He looked startled as he glanced at me, a thin layer of sweat above his upper lip. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of,” I said, taking a guess at what worried him.

I seemed to be right, as his shoulders slumped. “I-I— It’s just that y-y-you’re so fancy,” he muttered. “And we’re n-not.”

I glanced back at Ryan, who had a concerned look on his face, brow furrowed. “Can I tell you a secret?” I asked Caleb.

He nodded, eyes wide.

“I’m not exactly fancy,” I said, squeezing his shoulder. “In fact, I came from the slums.”

“Y-you did?” he asked, sounding awed.

“I did.”

“As did I,” Ryan said, taking a step forward.

I thought it quite possible that Caleb was going into shock. “B-b-b-but—”

“You aren’t always where you come from,” Ryan said. “It’s about the path you choose for yourself.”

What a sap. I loved the royal shit out of him.

“Exactly,” I said, already planning on finger-blasting the fuck out of Ryan once we got back to the castle.

He smirked at me as if he knew what I was thinking.

Bastard probably did.

“O-okay,” Caleb said, sounding as if he were gathering his courage. “Okay. L-let’s go inside and—”

He scurried forward, up the stairs, faster than I would have expected him to be able to move. The door was unlocked, and he pushed it open. It creaked on its hinges, and there was nothing that came from the house. No magic, no warnings, nothing. We weren’t stupid, not with everything that had happened. Ryan’s hand was on the hilt of his sword, and I breathed in long and slow, but there was nothing. It was just a house.

I smiled at Ryan. “Ready?”

He nodded. “Let’s go make a little girl’s day.”

And we followed Caleb up the stairs and through the door.

We stood in an entryway, the wooden floor creaking underneath our feet. Off to the left was a large room with dirty windows letting in weak sunlight. There were wooden chairs scattered about and a chest of drawers against the far wall. A stone fireplace took up the other end of the room, the interior blackened with ash and soot.

Farther down the hallway appeared to be a kitchen of sorts, and off to the right were three doors, two of which I thought led to bedrooms, the third probably to the bathroom.

Candles were lit and lining the hallway, casting a sickly yellow glow and creating shadows in the dusty corners.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

Caleb shut the door behind us.

We turned to face him.

“Parents home?” I asked as he reached up and locked the door with a heavy finality.

He shook his head.

“Just your sister.”

He sighed, rolling his shoulders as if ridding himself of the tension. When he looked back up at us, there was a strange glint to his eyes. I frowned at him as Ryan gripped the hilt of his sword.

Caleb leaned back against the door, eyeing Ryan and me coolly. When he spoke, gone were the nerves and the stutter. His voice was smooth and melodic, almost like liquid smoke. “I honestly didn’t expect this to work.”

I groaned. “Gods. There is no sister, is there?”

The smile that curled his lips had a nasty curve to it. “No, Sam. There’s no sister.”

I raised my hands and clapped slowly. “Well played. Tugging on the heartstrings. That was rather devious.”

Ryan drew his sword, the steel scraping against the scabbard. “You’re going to want to step away from the door.”

“Was that an order, Knight Commander?” Caleb asked, looking unmoved by Ryan’s threat.

“For now, it’s a suggestion. But the next time I have to tell you, I won’t be as polite.”

“Oooh,” Caleb said, shivering dramatically. “That just gets me down into my nether region. No wonder she sees in you what she does. I thought she was just crazy. But what do I know.”

“Who?” I asked, the green and gold starting to skirt along the edges of my vision.

“In time, Sam,” Caleb said. “First, I need to tell you a little story.”

“Oh my gods,” I groaned. “Are you fucking serious?”

Caleb looked startled at my outburst. “Excuse me?”

“Somehow you infiltrated the castle, became part of the page program, waited until just the right moment, got us in your clutches, and now you’re going to ruin what I admit is a pretty awesome and dedicated plan by monologuing. Dude, you totally just lost any and all credibility as the diabolical mastermind I was making you out to be. For shame, Caleb, for shame.”

Caleb seemed a little flustered at that. “It started almost two years ago when—”

“I am so bored with this already,” I told Ryan. “Are you bored with this? Because I’m bored with this.”

“At least he hasn’t tried to sleep with you yet,” Ryan pointed out. “That’s different.”

I squinted at Caleb. “Do you want to bone me?”

“What? No!”

“Ouch,” I said. “That’s a blow to the ol’ ego. Are you sure?”

“I don’t want to sleep with you. I’m straight.”

“Huh. That was not expected.” I gave him the Look-How-Precious-Sam-Is big eyes, fluttering my eyelashes just the way Gary had taught me. “Are you sure?”

“Are you hitting on me?” Caleb sounded incredulous.

“Gods, Sam,” Ryan growled. “Now is not the time for that.”

“You don’t even find me a little attractive?” I asked Caleb.

“No!”

“I was having such a good day too,” I said with a sigh. “Well, up until the whole getting trapped in a house with a skinny little twink who thought it’d be a good idea to try and capture us.”

“I’m not a twink.”

“Do you have any body hair that’s not on your head or dick?”

“No! What the hell—”

“Twink,” I said. “Trust me, I would know. I’ve been stuck as one for a long time. I’m hoping one day to become a bear. I feel like I’d be an awesome bear. Maybe even a leather one.”

“What am I, then?” Ryan asked, obviously unable to help himself.

“An otter,” I explained to him. “You’re muscular and furry.”

“I don’t think that’s a thing.”

“It’s a thing,” I insisted. “You’re also a power bottom, but that has nothing to do with you being an otter. That’s just because you’re a rock star.”

He flushed furiously. “Sam, maybe not talk about that in front of others.”

“Why?” I asked with a frown. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of.” I glanced back at Caleb. “Do you think that’s something to be ashamed of?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. You need to shut up and listen—”

“Rude. First you kidnap me and then you tell me to shut up? Caleb, I don’t think we’re going to be friends.”

“Is it kidnapping if we willingly walked with him?” Ryan asked.

“Eh. I like the way that sounds better than us being gullible idiots.”

“Right,” Ryan said before glaring at Caleb. “You kidnapped us. I’m going to kick your mothercracking behind.”

“Ooh,” I breathed. “You done it now.”

“You killed my mother!” Caleb shouted.

And everything.

Just.

Stopped.

“Excuse me?” I asked, gooseflesh rippling along my arms. “I didn’t kill anyone’s mother.”

Caleb began to pace in front of us, teeth gnashing. “I was gone to Meridian City when it happened. For supplies. We never crossed paths, but I’d heard whispers of the apprentice to the King’s Wizard traveling the countryside, scouring the land for a stolen prince. I thought I knew where the Prince had been taken, but we hadn’t confirmed. It didn’t matter. If the Prince had been kidnapped, it was because a god had decreed it so.”

“A god,” I said faintly, little pieces beginning to fall in place.

“A god,” Caleb agreed. “The god. Because my mother had decreed it so. He came to Verania for our salvation, and we were going to ascend with him. She told us that if we worshipped him, he would love us just as much as we loved him. We would be honored because we were his disciples.”

“I didn’t—”

“No,” Caleb snarled. “You will listen. You will listen to how I came back to Tarker Mills to find the village in ruins, its people scattered to the wind. You will listen to the story that was told to me by those who remained, of the fucking wizard who corrupted a god with his magic, who forced the dragon against his will to take from me. The wizard who used a god as his weapon to close his jaws over my mother, leaving nothing left but her feet in front of a keep in a valley near the mountains.”

“Eloise,” I whispered. “The truth corn cult leader.”

His face turned red with rage. “It wasn’t a cult. But yes. Eloise Marlowe. My mother. She invited you into our home, fed you the truth, and you repaid her by using Dark magic to debase a god into doing your bidding. You did this. You murdered her.”

“Hate to break it to you,” I said coldly, “but your mother was planning on sacrificing us to the one you call a god. You can sure as shit bet I was going to do everything I could to make sure that didn’t happen.”

“Maybe not try and aggravate the crazy twink,” Ryan muttered under his breath.

Caleb ignored him, only having eyes for me. “And I swore on my mother’s stumps that I would do everything I could to bring you to your end, Sam of Wilds.”

I grimaced. “That’s… gruesome. You swore on your mother’s stumps? Dude, what’s wrong with you?”

“And then out of all the darkness, I once again saw the bright light of redemption,” Caleb said. “And it was glorious. I knew I could honor my mother and have my revenge at the same time. Especially when it became evident that you were trying to corrupt the other gods who walk this earth.”

“The dragons aren’t gods. Kevin’s ego is already big enough, and I would appreciate if you wouldn’t add to it.”

“And so I came here. I found my new home. And I trained. I worked day and night, preparing myself to infiltrate the castle, to become the shy l-l-little p-p-page that managed to fool the great Sam of Wilds!”

“No offense,” Ryan said, “but it’s really not that hard to fool him.”

“Hey! That’s fucking mean. Also true. I tend to be rather gullible. And now that I’ve let you monologue, I think we’re going to end this right about—”

“Not so fast, Sam. Or should I say Mervin.”

I whirled around.

Next to the fireplace stood the worst person in the entire world.

My most mortal of enemies.

I snarled, “Lady Tina DeSilva. I should have known this had your foul stench all over it! Tell me, when you slithered out of the sewer in which you reside, did you decide today would be a good day to die? Because you shall rue. There will be ruing.”

“Oh boy,” Ryan said.

Lady Tina was wearing a pink-and-white frilly dress that came down to her ankles and was cinched tight at her trim waist. Her blonde curls were held back by a pink ribbon in her hair. Her fingernails were perfectly manicured and her makeup expertly applied. She was shockingly bright and out of place in the grime of the house we stood in. And I wanted nothing more than to pick up a handful of soot from the fireplace and rub it all over her stupid fucking face until she choked with it—

“Sam of Wilds,” she tittered. “How lovely it is to finally meet you face-to-face without a ridiculous disguise between us.”

“Ha! A disguise that fooled you for months! Take that, you abhorrent wench.”

“This is probably going to take a while,” Ryan told Caleb. “So we’re gonna need to hold off on that mothercracking behind-kicking I promised you. Don’t worry. It’ll still happen.”

“Revenge,” Caleb hissed.

“Right,” Ryan sighed. “That. If it makes you feel any better, you’re not the only one who’s wanted revenge. It’s kind of a thing.”

“Oh please,” Lady Tina sniffed. “I never believed you to be who you said you were. I only allowed you into the Ryan Foxheart Fan Club Castle Lockes Chapter because I felt sorry for you. You had my pity.”

“You liar. I got in because I knew more about Ryan Foxheart than you ever did!”

She scowled at me. “His favorite time of year!”

“Fall, because he loves the way the leaves crunch under his feet! What fruit does he hate the most?”

“Lemons, because he doesn’t understand the point of them!”

“Are they just a garnish?” Ryan asked Caleb. “I mean, you can’t eat them by themselves. Talk about a waste of fruit flesh.”

Tina thought for a second before her eyes narrowed. “His hobbies include swordsmanship, boxing, and?”

“Waking up at dawn and going for a seven-mile run like an asshole,” I crowed in triumph.

“This is very odd for me,” Ryan told Caleb. “I mean, I’m standing right here, you know?”

“How many orgasm faces does Ryan have?”

“Six,” Tina exclaimed.

“Damn you, wench!”

“I don’t want to know how they know that,” Ryan told Caleb. “I didn’t even know that. Well, Sam should know that. But the girl? That’s just weird.”

“The most push-ups Ryan has ever done!”

“Four hundred and seventy-six! His favorite song to sing!”

“‘Cheesy Dicks and Candlesticks’! His waist size!”

“Thirty-four, with an inseam length of thirty-six, because with those legs, he could have been a dancer!”

“I’m so embarrassed,” Ryan told Caleb.

And then I knew I had her. “Ryan Foxheart’s real name!”

Tina gasped. “What in the name of the gods are you talking about? Ryan Foxheart is his real name.”

“No, it’s not,” Ryan said.

“Aha!” I cried, pointing my finger at Tina. “Admit it, Lady Tina! You will never know as much about him as I will. And also, I get to fuck his godsdamn ass whenever the hell I want, so you can shove that up your front butt and choke on it. HaveHeart for life.”

“I don’t get to curse like that,” Ryan told Caleb. “Because of the children.”

“Curse you, Sam of Wilds!” Lady Tina shouted. “You’re lying, both of you are lying. You have bewitched him or spelled him to do your bidding, just like you’ve done with the dragons of Verania.” She glared over my shoulder. “Caleb, isn’t that right? You, as one of the highest-ranking members of the We-Hate-Sam-A-Lots, know this to be true. He used his magic to take from the both of us. From you, he stole your mother’s life. From me, he stole Rystin, the most beautiful of all relationships that has ever had the privilege of gracing this world. The magic that they had between them was—was life-changing. Anyone that saw them together knew they were meant to be, until this interloper came into the picture. He has destroyed everything good in the world and twisted my one true pairing into a brotherhood, and I will not stand for it!”

“I didn’t bewitch anyone!” I bellowed. “I won everyone over with my natural charm and biting wit and irresistible body.”

“He’s got nice thighs,” Ryan told Caleb. “I’m a thigh guy, I guess.”

“The truth will be revealed,” Tina hissed. “Your lies will end this day, Sam of Wilds, you mark my words. HaveHeart is finished. Long. Live. Rystin.”

I rushed her, planning on knocking her down into the fireplace and rolling her around in the ash and soot, just to make myself feel better.

But as soon as I stepped into the room in which she stood, a dampening wave washed over me, my magic muffled almost instantly. My foot hit the ground, and I almost didn’t have the strength to lift it again. My chest felt tight, constricted, and I struggled to take in another breath.

I hit an invisible wall in front of me, forehead smashing against it. Dazed, I took a step back, bringing my hand to my head. I felt dizzy and weak, like I was powerless.

“Sam?” Ryan asked as he took a step forward.

“Don’t,” I said through gritted teeth, pulling my hand away from my head, expecting to see blood. There was none. “Stay there. It’s a trap.”

“What?” Ryan growled. He ignored me and took a step forward, the floorboards creaking underneath his feet, his armor scraping together.

“Keep an eye on the other one,” I said as I looked over my shoulder. Caleb was grinning, watching the scene play out in front of him, back pressed against the door. Ryan nodded, pointing his sword at Caleb’s chest.

I turned back toward Lady Tina, who still stood by the fireplace. “How the hell are you doing this?”

She smirked. “Look up, Sam.”

I didn’t want to take my eyes off her, but I did as she said.

And there, on the ceiling, was a thinly painted circle filled with arcane symbols, of which I stood directly in the center.

“No,” I whispered. “It can’t be. Is that—”

“Dragon’s blood,” she singsonged. “One of the few things that can contain a wizard completely. Your magic is useless here, Sam.”

“See you next Tuesday,” I snarled at her.

She blinked. “Um. What?”

“Exactly.”

“Honestly, Sam. I don’t know why I expected anything more than you actually are. I suppose it is better to have the bar set so low to achieve any and all expectations. The story of your life, I imagine.”

“Why are you doing this?”

Her eyes flashed. “Why am I doing this? Sam, have you not been listening? You have stolen from me the one thing that mattered the most. The one thing that made this farce called life worth living. The world was fine until you meddled in things that did not involve you.”

“I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I’m talking about Rystin!” she shouted. “Prince Justin and Ryan were perfect for each other. They loved each other. They were going to get married and have babies and dress them in cute little outfits and go for strolls in the park and be the happiest family that ever lived. They complemented each other perfectly. The beautiful prince. The gorgeous knight. It’s how all the fairy tales go. They are never about the wizard. The wizard is a background character that only comes to the forefront when a silly little spell is required to advance the love of the main characters. But you. You couldn’t just let them be happy. You couldn’t let them love each other like they were supposed to. You came in, and you coveted. You devised a plan, poisoning the ear of the King in the process with the ancient tongue. And then you committed the most cardinal of all sins: you turned Ryan away from Justin. I saw you. I saw you. On their wedding day, you stood beside them, sworn to protect them, and you whispered back and forth with that fucking horse and stupid halfling. And then, just before I got my happy ending with Rystin, you unleashed your final spell and stole Ryan away from him.” Her bosom was rising and falling rapidly, her cheeks flushed, strands of hair falling around her face.

And so I said the only thing I could. “Girl, you a crazy fucking bitch.”

“Crazy?” she screeched. “You think I’m crazy? Oh no. No, no, no. Sam, my eyes have been opened. Whatever magic you used on the people of Verania did not work upon me. I was chosen to remain awake while all others slept under your enchantment. And it was then I realized that it was my duty to open the eyes of others, to wake them up to what was really happening in Verania, in the City of Lockes. To expose you for the villain you truly are. And I won’t let it happen any longer. I won’t let you hurt Ryan any more than you already have. I am here to open his eyes so that he can be awoken and remember the love he felt for the prince of his heart.” She looked at Ryan, giving him a watery smile. “It’s okay,” she said. “It’ll be okay. I promise. I will make you remember your beloved, and you will be able to return to him. You’ll be able to live the life you always wanted, the life you deserved if it hadn’t been snatched from you by this—this impostor.”

“Um,” Ryan said. “Thanks, but I’m fine.”

“Wow,” I said. “That was heartfelt. Thanks, babe.”

“I’m processing. That was a lot of information thrown at me all at once.”

“Excuse you? Information implies a modicum of truth to it.”

He rolled his eyes. “Technicality.” He looked at my archnemesis. “Lady Tina, right?”

She nodded. “Yes. That’s my name. You remember. Come back, Ryan. Come back to the light.”

“Oh my gods,” I muttered.

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do here,” Ryan said, giving her that aw shucks smile that he did so well. “Heck, the fact that you’re so concerned about me is certainly one of my favorite things about the Foxy Ladies.” He winked at her.

She swooned a little.

I almost threw up in my mouth.

“But,” Ryan said, sounding extraordinarily apologetic, “I think… there might have been a misunderstanding here.”

“Misunderstanding?” Lady Tina asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s… okay, you see, it’s like this. Justin and I… well. We were never in love. Ever. Like, not even a little bit.”

“This is so stupid,” Caleb said.

“Shut up,” I said as I glared at him. “Ryan Foxheart is about to drop a truth bomb all up in this shit, and you will sit there and you will take it.”

“What—what do you mean?” Lady Tina asked.

“My real name is Nox. Nox Ashford. I come from the slums.”

“Did I know that was your last name?” I asked with a frown. “I don’t think I knew that was your last name.”

He snorted. “Does it matter?”

“It just feels like something I should have known. I like it.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Sassy knight,” I said fondly. “You just wait until we get back home. I am going to split you in half, you don’t even know.”

He blushed. “Sam, not in front of my fan.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, for fuck’s sake.”

“No,” Lady Tina said. “No. That’s not… that’s not possible. You’re lying. Sam is making you lie. Ryan, it’s the magic. It’s a spell. He is making you believe all of this. Listen to me. You have been cursed by Sam of Wilds. He is trying to control you—”

“Look,” he said, lowering his sword, “I don’t know how else to tell you this. But I wanted Sam even before Justin and I ever got together. My relationship with Justin was nothing but a mutually beneficial arrangement. We cared about each other, but not romantically. My heart has only ever belonged to one person, and it will stay that way for the rest of my days.”

“He’s talking about me,” I told Caleb, a rather manic smile on my face.

She took a stuttering step back, shaking her head. “No. I refuse to believe that. I refuse.” She narrowed her eyes as she looked toward me. “This is your doing. I knew I was right. And then when he told me the truth, when he told me what you were truly capable of, giving me the validation I needed, I knew there was nothing I wouldn’t do to free Ryan Foxheart from your grasp. Marching and protesting only gets you so far, after all.” She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. When she opened her eyes again, she looked as composed as she ever was. Her smile was all teeth. “I suppose it’s time to move on to phase three.”

“Phase three?” I asked, brow furrowed. “What’s phase three? And for that matter, what the hell were one and two?”

“Phase one, sow the seeds of distrust into the people of Verania against Sam of Wilds,” she said, back straight and poised as the most proper of ladies. “Phase two, capture Sam of Wilds in an unbreakable prison. Phase three, watching your eyes once you experience betrayal. And finally, phase four, the death of Sam of Wilds.”

“Bitch, I’m going to motherfucking cut you! You just wait until I get out of here. I swear to the gods, you are so dead, you don’t even know!”

“And once the phases are complete,” she said, clapping her hands together gleefully, “Ryan will be free of your enchantments and the world will go back to the way it should have been, filled with Rystin and sunshine, and nothing will ever hurt ever again.”

“Ryan! Stab her! Stab her fucking face off!”

Ryan frowned. “But she’s a girl. I can’t just stab a girl.”

“You can,” I yelled at him. “You can and you will. I would do it, except I’m fucking stuck in dragon’s blood and—wait. Just how in the hell did you get dragon’s blood? And what the fuck did you mean, betrayal? Who’s going to betray me?”

“That would be me.”

He stepped out from the far corner where he’d been hidden in shadows. He was dressed differently than he was the last time I saw him. He wore trousers and heavy boots. A long black coat hung from his shoulders and scraped the wooden floorboards that creaked beneath his feet. His hair had been shorn, and it made a startling difference. Where he’d once been strangely sweet, he was now darkly ominous.

I should have known, given the way my magic felt when I was around him.

I should have seen this coming.

“You,” I breathed.

And Ruv, the Wolf of Bari Lavuta, said, “Surprised, aren’t you? Oh, the look on your face, Sam. If only I could go back in time to do this again and again, I would be a happy man. Your expression is certainly… captivating.”

I slammed my hands against the invisible barrier that surrounded me, knowing it was futile but trying to get at him anyway. Ruv stood there, looking quietly amused in the face of my rage. I reached for my magic as hard as I could, but it was buried too far under the surface. I couldn’t see the green and gold, much less feel it coursing through me. Dragon’s blood was the most powerful deterrent to a wizard’s magic, and for all I knew, it was infallible.

That didn’t stop me from trying to break through it and launch myself at him, wanting to rip him to shreds.

“Let me out!” I bellowed at him. “You motherfucker, let me out so I can kick your fucking ass!”

“Ah, but I don’t think I will,” Ruv said. “We have… time. Before the final act. Time for a discussion about—”

Ryan was moving even as he spoke, surprisingly silent, given how much armor he wore. Lady Tina shrieked and Caleb shouted in surprise, but Ryan ignored them. He was deadly and swift, sword gripped tightly as he rushed toward Ruv.

He didn’t make it.

One moment he was running, teeth bared, and the next Ruv muttered something under his breath, raising his hands toward Ryan. There was a bright flash of sickly yellow light, and Ryan was flung back toward the wall, sword knocked from his hands. He landed with a crash, head almost at the ceiling, the wood cracking behind him. His arms and legs were spread wide as he was pinned to the wall. Before he could recover, the wood behind him snapped and broke apart, moving like it was sentient. It had a liquid quality to it, like it was flowing, and it molded itself over his hands and feet before hardening again with a dull thump. Only then did Ruv lower his hands, and Ryan sagged against the wall, effectively trapped within it.

“Ryan!” I punched the barrier again, feeling the skin of my knuckles split.

“There,” Ruv said. “That’s better.”

Ryan struggled against the grip the wall had on him. He didn’t look like he was in pain, but the sight of him trapped against the wall enraged me.

“I will kill you,” I promised Ruv. “You should know that now. When I get out of here—and you should believe me when I say that I will—I’m going to fucking kill you.”

“Wow,” Ruv said, eyes wide. “That’s rather dark coming from the great Sam of Wilds, don’t you think? You don’t kill people, Sam. That’s not your way. You get others to do it for you. Lartin the Dark Leaf. Eloise Marlowe.”

“Rystin,” Tina added from somewhere near the fireplace. “He killed Rystin. Not a person, but just as important.”

Ruv took in a very measured breath, eyes tightening just a little. “Yes. That too, I suppose. But regardless, I am surprised at you, Sam. Though I suppose once you corner an animal, it will lash out. It is the way of things. Who else has there been, Sam? How many others have fallen because of your incompetence?”

“I trusted you,” I snapped at him.

He arched an eyebrow at me. “Did you? I don’t remember that part.”

“Well. Okay. I sort of trusted you. Obviously I was right not to put my complete trust in you, since you turned out to be a villain.”

Ruv snorted. “It’s really that black and white with you, isn’t it? Even after everything you’ve been through, you see things as divided between good and evil.”

“Uh, yeah, dude. That’s pretty much what this is, in case you haven’t noticed. We’re the good guys, you’re the bad guys. And in case you hadn’t noticed, the bad guys always lose.”

“Tell that to these two,” Ruv said, nodding toward Lady Tina and Caleb. “See if they agree that you’re the good guy here.”

“Maybe not the best pool to draw opinions from,” I said. “One’s mother tried to sacrifice me after making me eat corn and admit to wanting to lovingly butt-fuck the knight you have there against the wall. The other is a psychotic superfan whose vagina I’m going to kick the shit out of just as soon as I get out of here.”

“You will stay away from my vagina,” Lady Tina said shrilly.

I turned slowly to glare at her.

She took a step back, bumping into Caleb, who had come to stand beside her.

I drew my finger along my neck. And then across my crotch.

“Really, Sam?” Ryan sighed.

“Hey! I’m trying to show that I’m a man of my word!”

“It’s funny that you think there’s still a way out of this,” Ruv said. “There’s not, of course. Not even you can get out of a trap constructed of dragon’s blood.”

“How did you even get dragon’s—Zero. You got it from Zero.”

“Smarter than you look,” Ruv said. “I’m impressed.”

“If you hurt him—”

He waved a hand at me. “I didn’t touch your precious dragon. I merely went back after you left Mashallaha and convinced him you needed a couple of vials of his blood in order to complete the bond between the two of you. He was suspicious, but in the end, his faith in you outweighed his mistrust in me. He was already growing more trees by the time I left.” Ruv grimaced. “And really, Sam, that whole your beauty is on the inside rather than the outside speech you gave to him was misplaced, don’t you think? I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anything more disgusting than him.”

“I don’t understand. How are you doing this? Why are you doing this?” Another thought crossed my mind, and it made my stomach churn. “Is she a part of this?”

“She?”

“Vadoma.”

He laughed. “Oh. Her. No. She’s… useful, in her own way. She has a connection to you in blood, but also by the gods. They came to her long before my birth. I had no part in that, nor would I want it. Though honestly, if they never told her about me, doesn’t it make you wonder just what sort of games they play? You have to know that you’re nothing but a pawn to them, Sam, merely being shuffled across the board for their amusement. Do you understand that? The gods don’t care about you. If they did, do you think you’d be here right now? And if you think about it, if you really parse it out, is it possible that you were meant to be here, right at this moment? That everything you’ve done to get to this point mattered not, and nothing you could have done could have changed that?”

“Nothing is set in stone,” I retorted.

“Ah, yes. Because stone crumbles. Isn’t that right? Isn’t that what Zero told you? I had to keep enough distance away so that thing wouldn’t smell me, but I was close enough to hear him tell you that. Stone crumbles. Do you know what else crumbles, Sam?” He took a step forward until he was within reach, but given Zero’s blood, there was nothing else I could do. He smiled as his eyes searched my face. “Iron and steel.”

“What? What the hell are you—”

His hands snapped up, fingers bent awkwardly, and I heard him mutter dis and tae and cos, and I knew what those words meant, I knew what he was going to do even before that rotten yellow light flashed again. His magic, which was stronger than I’d ever thought it’d be, still pulled at me, even though my own was dampened by the dragon’s blood. It was invasive in a way it’d never been before, like it was the anticornerstone. I ground my teeth against the weight of it as his magic did what he’d intended it to do.

Ryan’s armor began to break apart.

Ryan shouted in anger, struggling against the bindings that held him as his armor broke off in chunks like it were cracking right down the middle. His breastplate fell first, then the gardbraces and vambraces from his arms, followed by the greaves and the cuisses from his legs. They landed with loud thunks on the ground, hissing and crackling as they crumbled. The padding he wore between the armor and the thin clothing underneath fell off to the side. He was left barefoot, wearing a tunic and trousers, both made of wool to keep the sweat from dripping down his body under the armor.

He was defenseless.

But he was not afraid. No, I could tell by the look on his face that he was pissed. That armor had been given to him by the King, commissioned when he’d been promoted to Knight Commander. It had been an honor and a physical representation of his oath to the King of Verania.

Yeah. Ryan Foxheart was angry, all right.

Which in turn made me angrier.

I was going to kick so much ass.

But first.

“It’s him, isn’t it?”

Ruv lowered his hands, panting a little at the exertion of his magic. It told me everything I needed to know. “Him?”

“You know who I mean.”

He wiped the sweat from his brow. “I want to hear you say it, Sam.”

“Tell me.”

“Why?”

“You’re a gypsy. The magic you’re using is strong, but it’s wild. Unpracticed. Like it was taught to you in a short amount of time. You shouldn’t be able to do what you’re doing.”

He nodded slowly. “That’s fair. My mentor hasn’t had… the time to give me what I needed. I was nothing. Did you know that? I was nothing, but he recognized my potential. He saw in me what I was capable of. What I could mean. To him.” His lips twitched. “To you. He knew you, Sam, even before you knew about him. He wasn’t corporeal, but the cracks in the seal were large enough for him to seep through, for the shadows to cross, and I heard him whispering to me. At first I thought I was going crazy, that I was losing my mind. But I wasn’t. He was real. And he wanted me. He showed me how, Sam. He showed me how to make them all think I was something I wasn’t, that I’d always been the Bari Lavuta to the phuro of Mashallaha.”

He sighed. “It was so easy. Vadoma’s mind is… well. She wants to believe, and all it took was the simplest of suggestions and she folded, Sam. She just collapsed until I was in all her memories, until I was in all their memories as the second to the phuro. He taught me that. And I am indebted to him.”

“And he used you,” I said through gritted teeth. “To try and get to me. As my cornerstone.”

“Twice he has underestimated you, Sam,” he said. “That much is clear. It won’t happen again, but mistakes were made, yes. The second time was when he came for you in Mashallaha. I tried to tell him, tried to make him understand that you were more than he thought, but… in the end, he realized his mistake. But do you know the first time he underestimated you, Sam?”

“Fuck you.”

“It was your devotion to the knight.” He glanced over to where Ryan was trapped against the wall, still struggling against the wood around his hands and feet. “He thought you could be swayed from him. That no mere grunt could ever take the heart of Sam of Wilds. He thought you would respond to someone of your own kind, someone who understood what it meant to have magic, to be a gypsy. But your love for this—this nothing proved to be rather remarkable. You were not seduced by me. He wasn’t happy. After you left. Partly because of his own failings, but because I too had failed him.”

“Your mentor?” I spat at him. “Are you out of your fucking mind? Wait, don’t answer that. I already know you are.”

Ruv chuckled. “That mouth of yours is going to get you in trouble one of these days, Sam. You have to know that by now.”

“Excuse me? Excuse me!”

“What?” Ruv said, whirling on Lady Tina.

“Yes,” she said, looking rather defiant, Caleb next to her, his dark eyes on me. “Hello. Thank you for finally acknowledging that I am still in the room. Which, if you must know, I will not stand for such rudeness. I am a noblewoman, and I demand to be treated as such.”

“Of course, my lady,” Ruv said, bowing low. He was mocking her, but I didn’t think she knew. “How may I be of service to you?”

“This is all really quite fascinating, I’m sure, what with your plots for revenge and whatever else you’re blathering on about. But in case you hadn’t noticed, I am a white woman stuck in a house with—with half-breeds, and I would like to return to where I belong. I don’t even like spending time in this house for meetings of the We-Hate-Sam-A-Lots, much less standing here listening to you air whatever your issues are with Sam. I get it. Trust me when I say I do. But don’t you think it’d be easier on all of us if you removed whatever enchantment is on Ryan Foxheart as you promised? I would like to return him to the castle to witness the reunion with his beloved that I have already plotted out in my head to make the most delicious of real-person fan fictions that I’ve ever created. I already have it titled. Would you like to hear it?”

He stared at her.

She brought her hands up, wiggling her fingers. “It’s called Rystin: Homecoming; A Story of Love and Triumphant Return of Two Lovers Who Love Each Other Like They’ve Loved No Other Lover Before. My thighs are absolutely tingling at the thought of it.”

“Right,” Ruv said, voice flat. “There is the matter of Ryan Foxheart.”

It was like ice down my spine.

“Yes,” Lady Tina said with a nod. “And if you will just release him from the enchantment… and the wall, we’ll leave you to it with whatever you have planned with Sam of Wilds.”

“Do your worst,” Ryan snarled at him as Ruv took a step toward him.

I groaned. “Don’t tell him to do that, you idiot. Now he’ll do it.”

“It’s okay, Ryan,” Lady Tina said, hands clutched between her breasts. “Soon you will be free from all of this. I promise you.”

“You will be,” Ruv agreed. “Free, that is. From all of this. Do you remember, Knight Commander? In Mashallaha. How many times you threatened to stab me. It’s ironic, really.”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “How is that ironic? I didn’t actually do it. Although now I wish I had.”

“No,” I whispered. “No, no, don’t—”

“That’s not the irony, Ryan Foxheart. The irony here is that I’m going to be the one to stab you.”

I screamed at him.

But it didn’t matter.

Ryan looked confused as Ruv moved quicker than I’d ever seen him move. One moment he was standing near Tina, a small smile on his face. And the next he was scooping up Ryan’s discarded sword by the hilt and charging my knight.

Ryan Foxheart didn’t cry out as the sword pierced his skin just below his rib cage. He exhaled explosively, but the only other sound was the harsh thunk as the sword ran him through completely and hit the wall behind him. His eyes bulged as he looked down slowly at Ruv, who stood in front of him, hand still holding the sword, crimson starting to bleed along the cold steel.

“What?” Ryan whispered. “What?”

And still I screamed.

My hands were bleeding, and I thought two of the fingers on my right hand were broken with how hard I was hitting the barrier that surrounded me, trying to do something, anything, to get to Ryan, to tear Ruv to pieces and to make it all okay again.

But it was the price of magic.

I could bring the lightning out from my heart.

I could hold a bird in my hand and give it life once again.

And I could not break the seal of dragon’s blood above me.

I was shattering, breaking into a thousand tiny pieces, and Ryan coughed weakly, blood dribbling down his chin. He looked up at me as Ruv took a step back. His teeth were stained red, and when he said, “Sam?” all I could think about, all I could remember was the day Morgan took me away from the slums by the hand, and how I’d looked back just once and saw the boy named Nox standing on the road behind me.

I had waved at him.

He’d waved back.

And then I rounded the corner and Nox was gone, and I didn’t think about him again until I sat beside a knight I loved next to a fire under the bright, bright stars on our way to rescue the Prince from the clutches of a dragon, and he’d said You’ve never been turned to stone, Sam? It’s an interesting experience to say the least.

Nox Ashford.

Ryan Foxheart.

I loved them both.

Because they were the same.

So, yes. I screamed for him.

I begged Ruv to let me out.

He ignored me, eyes only on Ryan.

I pleaded for Lady Tina to help him.

She stood shocked, face pale, lips trembling.

I cried for Caleb to make it stop.

He had a smile on his face.

“Sam?” Ryan said again, sounding like he was choking.

“Shh,” I said, face wet. “Don’t talk. It’s okay. It’s okay, sweetheart. It’ll all be okay. I promise. I promise you, okay? You just gotta give me a moment. I’ll get us out of here.”

“Hurts, Sam.”

“I know,” I said, voice breaking. “I know it does. But I need you to be brave for me. I need you to be strong.”

“You… can’t… I…. Sam.” His head rocked back as more blood spilled from his mouth. “Sam, Sam, ah gods, Sam.”

“You bastards,” I bellowed at the others in the room. “I’ll kill you. Do you hear me? I’m going to fucking kill you all.”

“What have you done?” Lady Tina whispered.

“What was necessary,” Ruv said with a sigh. He stretched his neck from side to side.

“You… you promised me,” she said, taking a step back. “You told me that Ryan would be safe. That he would be free.”

“He’ll be dead soon,” Ruv said. “Free from the shackles of this life. And his death will be the catalyst needed to send this world spiraling into darkness.”

“You promised me!” she exclaimed shrilly. “You said—”

He had her pressed against the fireplace, hand around her throat, before she could continue.

“I grow weary of the sound of your voice,” Ruv said, nose trailing along her cheek. “There are much bigger things at work here than your precious games, little girl. Things that you couldn’t even possibly imagine. If I were you, I would be on my knees thanking the gods that you still draw breath.” His fingers tightened, and she whimpered. “Now. Because you have provided such a valuable service in assisting the downfall of Sam of Wilds, I will spare your life. Leave here, without another word, and you will live to see another day. One peep from you, my dear, and you will join your beloved Knight Commander with your blood on the floor.”

He took a step back, hand dropping from her neck.

Lady Tina sobbed quietly. She looked at Ryan, who was losing his battle with consciousness, then at me.

“You don’t want me to get out of here,” I told her, voice hoarse. “Because I will come for you.”

She nodded.

And then ran from the house, the door slamming shut behind her.

“Sam.”

“No,” I moaned. “Save your strength. Please. Just—”

“Need you… to listen. You remember? What I told you.” He coughed weakly. “At the top of the keep.”

I shook my head. “Don’t you do this. Don’t you fucking say goodbye to me. You hear me? Ryan. Don’t you fucking do this!”

“I told you… that I wished for nothing… more than you.”

“Ryan.”

He smiled a bloody smile. “Still mean it.”

And then his eyes slipped shut, his head slumping forward.

I threw my whole weight against the barrier again and again and again.

Ruv clucked his tongue. “Truly a waste.” He shook his head and turned away from Ryan back toward me. “You might as well save your strength, Sam. You’re going to need it.”

Again and again and again.

He turned his attention away from me.

“Leave us,” Ruv told Caleb. “The time has almost come. Do not return to the castle, as they will soon know something is amiss. Wait for my word.”

“I want to watch what happens to Sam—”

“Leave us,” Ruv hissed. “I will not tell you again. He approaches, and he will not be pleased if you are still here.”

Caleb’s eyes widened a little at that. He looked as if he was going to argue but must have thought better of it. His mouth thinned, and he nodded tightly. He glanced at me again before he too left the house, leaving me and Ruv and Ryan.

The only sounds were the dripping of blood on the floor and the grunts I made when I slammed my shoulder into the barrier, knowing it wouldn’t give but not caring.

“You know,” Ruv said finally, “in the end, I do feel somewhat responsible for what happened here.”

I ignored him.

“I told him that I could get to you, that if he just gave me a chance, I could do what was needed. You would choose me as your cornerstone, and I would eventually drag you away from the light and into the dark. I knew of Ryan Foxheart. Everyone in Verania did. But I figured once you tasted my magic with yours, you’d see. I regret that it didn’t work out like I had planned. I didn’t try hard enough. I went along with Vadoma, and I went along with you after that dragon in the desert. I thought you would just see me, see how I helped you, see how good I was, and in the end, you’d just… I don’t know.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “So yes, Sam. I do blame myself partly for this. And if he hadn’t failed right after I did, I do believe I wouldn’t be standing here. Because again, there’s just something about you that causes people to doubt what you’re capable of. You are stronger than you appear.” He shook his head ruefully. “We won’t be making that mistake again.”

“What do you want from me?” I said, trying to push through the haze that had covered my eyes.

“Oh, it’s not about what I want. I don’t know that it’s ever been. It’s about what he wants.”

“How could you? How could you do any of this?”

“Black and white, Sam. That’s all you see. There is so much more in between. Becoming a Dark wizard isn’t the scary story you’ve heard all your life. Morgan and Randall are so absolute in their magic that they leave room for no alternatives. No interpretation. Magic can go both ways, Sam. You know that. You showed me that in the desert. With the sand mermaids. And with him in the water. Do you really think you could have done that with both feet firmly planted in the light? No, Sam. Of course not. Part of you is in shadow. Morgan knows this. Randall knows this. Why do you think they’ve kept so much from you?”

“I will never be like you.”

His smile took on a melancholic curve. “I suspected as much. And so did he, I think. He gave you a choice once, and you threw it back in his face. He made his mistake then, by acting too hasty, trying to consume your magic before it was time. Even the best of us can act without thinking.”

“The both of you can go fuck yourself.”

“Yes, I suppose you think we can. But in the end, it doesn’t matter. You have lost, Sam. There’s no talking your way out of this one, no using your magic to escape impossible odds. Verania will fall, and from the ashes, the age of the Darks will be born, and he will rule over us all.”

I laughed bitterly. “You really think Morgan and Randall will let that happen? Kill me. Fine. Go ahead. But they will never let him win. This is just one battle, and you are in a war, and I promise you, I will find a way, either in this life or the next, to make you pay for what you’ve done.”

“Ah, Morgan and Randall. Even after everything, you still have faith in them. It’s a remarkable thing.” He stepped closer to the barrier. “Misplaced, but admirable. Do you know where my faith lies, Sam of Wilds?”

“Go to hell.”

“In him.”

“You will lose.”

“You know of whom I speak.”

“You will lose.”

“His name, Sam. Say his name.”

“Villains never win. You may have gotten this far, but we all know how the stories end.”

“Now, Sam. Say it. Say his name.”

“Break the blood seal and see how it goes. Come on, you little bitch. Do it. You think I’m scared of you? Of him?”

“Say his fucking name!” Ruv bellowed.

I spat at him and watched the saliva slide down the invisible barrier. “Fuck you. And fuck him. You want me to say his name? You think I won’t. Fine. You will fall, Ruv. Just like your mentor. You are nothing. Myrin is nothing.”

The floor shook beneath my feet, the floorboards rippling. I took a stumbling step back, hitting my bruised shoulder against the barrier. The room grew darker as the flames on the candles flickered before going out completely. The ceiling groaned, a large crack appearing right down the middle, dust and plaster sprinkling down. The crack stopped right before it reached the dragon’s blood.

Ruv took a step back. “He’s coming.”

The shadows began to gather along the floor. Soot and ash billowed from the fireplace, caught in a spiral as it swirled into the air. At first it was shapeless, a vortex spinning lazily. But then the shadows coalesced and there was a strange pull in the back of my head, muffled by the blood spell.

Sam, it whispered.

The vortex rose toward the ceiling, leaking shadows like liquid smoke.

And for a moment, that was all it was: a column of shadow-smoke swirling in the center of an abandoned home in the middle of the City of Lockes.

Then the shadows fell away.

And the darkest of all the wizards stood, a small smile on his face. He wore black robes shot with lines of red. His beard curled down against his chest. His eyes were sparkling.

“Sam,” Myrin said. “How lovely it is to see you again.”