Terry, on the other hand, was more of a mystery. From what I gathered on the little pieces Gary had dropped every now and then, their relationship was… contentious. Gary had said once that he wished he’d consumed Terry w
hile they were still in the womb to save him from having to deal with his existence.
I’d laughed because I’d thought he was kidding.
Looking back, I didn’t think he was kidding.
So the worst thing I could have said was “Your brother looks pretty fucking majestic.”
Gary gasped. “You fucking come slut. How could you say that to my face!”
“Oh, man, I am so sorry. I meant to think that, not say it out loud. Dude, my bad.”
“I hate you. This is the worst day of my life.”
“Hey! I just came back after being gone for almost a year. This is the best day of your life.”
“Gary! Hey, Gary! Look at me! Look how progressive I am! I’m letting a man ride on my back. Who’s stuck-up now, you light-footed ninny?”
Light-footed ninny, I mouthed to myself.
Terry came to a stop in front of the gates, panting slightly from the exertion. His chest and legs were muscular, and his tail and mane were white, thick, and wavy. His horn was much larger and thicker than I expected it to be, and had it not been for Ryan Foxheart on his back, I might have swooned a little bit, which was a very odd thought to have.
Ryan dismounted with ease, armor clinking as he slid from Terry’s back.
I wished more than anything that everyone would leave.
But they didn’t, of course. They were waiting to see what was going to happen as much as I was.
Ryan looked… good. Really good. He was a little thinner than he’d been, cheekbones more pronounced, and the beard he’d worn temporarily back at Castle Freeze Your Ass Off had made a reappearance. His blond hair was as long as it’d ever been, and he reached up to push it back off his face in a practiced move that would have been stupid on anyone else but made me want to eat him alive.
There was a scar too, on his face, that hadn’t been there before. It was thin and white and started on the left side and stretched toward his nose. In the scheme of things, it was minor, but it hit me then, truly hit me, that there was a history here that I wasn’t privy to. Events that I wasn’t a part of had occurred. Someone had hurt him—a while ago, from the looks of it—and I hadn’t been there to protect him.
The thought made my chest ache.
“Ryan,” I croaked out, and I took a step forward to—
Lady Tina beat me to him. She pushed past me, marching forward, and stood at attention in front of him as if she were one of his knights. Ryan glanced at her before looking back at me with that intense gaze of his, as if he thought there was a chance I’d disappear.
“Knight Commander,” Lady Tina said, a hint of a purr in her voice. “Welcome back to Camp HaveHeart. I’m pleased to see the mission was successful. If you’d like, I can provide you with a detailed report of day-to-day activities that occurred in your absence.”
He looked a little startled at that, glancing back at her again. “I would hear it, and I’m sure it would be as… comprehensive as always, but there are matters of pressing importance that I must attend to first.”
Lady Tina stiffened just a little, and I was barely able to hold back my crow of victory, because I was the matter of pressing importance, and I was going to press him against so many things.
If he let me, that is.
“I understand,” Lady Tina said slowly as if she didn’t understand it in the slightest. “I suppose I can give my report to Prince Justin.”
“Yeah,” Ryan said, once again distracted by me. “That sounds… good.”
“Ooh,” one of the Foxy Ladies breathed as the others started to titter. “I think I’m starting to quiver. You know. Down there.”
Lady Tina glared back at them, and they fell silent immediately.
She stepped aside.
Ryan took a step toward me as he sheathed his sword.